Bespoke control software and quality [HVAC systems]

The availability of low cost microprocessor-based controllers for energy management has enabled strategies for control of HVAC plant to become more and more complex. However, the plant to be controlled and therefore the strategy required, varies significantly from installation to installation. Some means of effectively adapting the control system to the specific application is therefore required. There are currently two industry-standard solutions to the problem. One uses a high level programming language, specially developed for writing control programs, whereas the other uses a graphical representation of the control strategy to show how data will flow from one pre-defined software module to another. This paper examines how computer-aided design techniques (the latter sort of software development) can be used to facilitate the programming of a controlling outstation. It also shows how quality control is aided by such an approach